Terence Crawford unifies 4 welterweight belts

Spence is number one in the world in welterweight according to the Transnational Boxing Rankings Council, The Ring, and second according to Boxrec, ESPN as of May 2022. He is a welterweight (half-middle) champion, holding the IBF belt since 2017, WBC from 2019 and WBA (Super) since 2022.

Up to the stage in Las Vegas on the evening of July 29, Spence had won all 28 professional matches, with six points and 22 knockouts, reaching a rate of 78%. But the American boxer broke the winning streak in the 29th match, and lost the WBC, WBA Super, IBF belts to compatriot Crawford.

Before the match, Crawford was accompanied to the T-Mobile Arena by legendary rapper Eminem on the background of the hit song "Lose Yourself" - the song that won the "Best Original Song" award at the 2003 Oscars.

Crawford showed superior class and completely overwhelmed. Early in the second half, he launched two left shots to knock his opponent down, and this was the first time in his career Spence fell to the floor. By the seventh round, Crawford had two more knocks down the opponent and was awarded a technical knockout victory in the ninth round. The 35-year-old boxer attacked so hard that Spence with a bleeding face could only resist, forcing the referee to intervene to stop the match.

CompuBox statistics show the superiority of Crawford. He fired 369 hits, with 185 hits - a 50% hit rate. Spence punches 480 punches, with 96 hits with accuracy, with only a 20% hit rate. Crawford had 206 jabs, hit 87 times, for a rate of 42%. While, this figure of Spence is only 11%, with 33 shots on target out of a total of 296 hits. In addition, Crawford also has 98 accurate heavy blows, reaching a rate of 60%, compared to 63 and 34% of the opponent.

Victory over Spence helped Crawford set two records. He became the first boxer to unify the four most prestigious belts in welterweight and the first fighter to unify the belts of two different weight classes in the four-belt era, after light welterweight. "Like I said before, I just want to be world champion," Crawford said after the win. "I've always been aiming for unexpected success. No one believed in me when I moved up the weight ladder, but now I've made people believe."

Meanwhile, Spence admitted the opponent deserved to win. "Crawford played better today," said the 33-year-old boxer. "Crawford made good use of the jabs, and I timed them incorrectly. I have no excuse for this failure."

There is a rematch clause that Spence can activate within 30 days of the match, and he claims to improve in the second fight. The winner can choose to have the rematch in the 147-pound (66.67 kg) or 154-pound (69.85 kg) division. Spence expects his opponent to pick the 154-pound mark and reveals a rematch could take place in December.